A/N: *Sigh*

Also, I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to JK Rowling.

The next morning Hermione decided to stop pretending to sleep around six a.m. Ever since Draco had mumbled he loved her that one night she couldn't stop thinking about it. All night long her ears were perked up, just in case he said it again. He hadn't.

Hermione sat up on the couch they had slept on and looked down at his serene face. She reached out and brushed some stray hairs from his eyes, smiling as his hand instinctually came up and entwined with hers. He really was incredible.

"Argh!" groaned Hermione, moving off of the couch and as far away from him as she could get. She hated that she liked him so much. The only reason Draco was able to successfully sell her the idea of them having a fling was by saying he was the better choice if she wanted no attachments, but she was pretty sure if she had chosen Phillip she would not be feeling this way. They didn't share the same connection she shared with Draco. They didn't have that same fire.

Last night Phillip had been so sure when he told Chastity Sophie was the girl for him. She wanted that sureness, but she didn't have it. If she was sure about Ron she never would have wanted a break in the first place, and if she was sure about Draco she wouldn't be thinking about Ron so much. It felt like so long since she had seen Ron it was hard to say how she felt. She was pretty sure she loved him more, but what if she was wrong?

Taking a seat on a chair just across from the couch, Hermione looked back at Draco and sighed. How had he managed to get under her skin? Better yet, when had he managed it? She liked to tell herself it wasn't until their game of twenty questions, but deep down she knew it was long before then. It was that first day. When she first noticed the changes in him. Right then she knew she wanted to know more about this new Draco Malfoy. And then he'd looked at her and she'd felt flushed. He gave her one of those cocky winks of his and she'd liked it.

Oh, Merlin! Hermione had just realized something. She wanted this to happen. From that first day she hadn't wanted Phillip, she wanted Draco. These feelings were her fault. She was supposed to be smart. She should have known better than to take a bite of the forbidden fruit, expecting to come out unscathed. There were always consequences, and she was suffering them now. Hard.

She needed air. Getting up from her chair, Hermione went through one of the random doors and walked around until she found her way outside. She entered a courtyard and took a seat on one of the benches, letting the cool air hit her face as she tried not to think about anything, especially how today was their three week mark. Twenty-one days from now she and Draco would be returning to Mr. Ollivander's shop and saying farewell. She wasn't going to kid herself and pretend they would still be friends. Ron knew about them, and he hated Draco more than anyone else alive. He would see this as the ultimate betrayal, and he would want Draco out of their lives. Forever.

No! She couldn't do that. He needed her. And she needed him.

It wasn't fair that no matter which one she chose she was going to lose the other. But maybe Draco didn't even want to be with her. That would certainly make things easier. He said he had nothing to lose by them going public with their relationship, but that didn't mean his family would ever approve of her. In fact, she was positive they wouldn't. Draco was definitely the more complicated choice, but maybe he was worth it …

Just when she was about to go back inside, Hermione looked up and saw someone swooping in on a broom. She knew right away that it was Charlie, because that was the sort of luck she was having lately. Oh well. She promised him she would speak to him this morning so she might as well get it over with.

"Hermione," he said, landing in front of her. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just needed some fresh air," she answered. "You?"

"The same," he said, taking a seat beside her. Glancing over at her, he added, "You look exhausted. Did you not sleep well?"

"I didn't really sleep much at all, actually." By the expression that formed on Charlie's face, she immediately knew that this had come out wrong. "No, Charlie, not like that. After Chastity left last night Sophie and Phillip got all caught up in their love for each other, and Draco and I were left without a bedroom. We ended up just falling asleep in the common room, only, I didn't sleep much. I have a lot on my mind, you know?"

"I can imagine," he said coolly. "Look, Hermione, I don't really want to ask you about your love life, but -"

"Your family is demanding you interrogate me. I understand, Charlie. I have met them."

They both chuckled halfheartedly.

Hermione sighed before asking, "So Ron's really gone AWOL?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Ginny says after he saw the article he showed up at hers and Harry's flat, demanding they tell him if they knew anything. He admitted to seeing the first one with the vampires, where Malfoy had his arm around you, but tried to tell himself it was nothing. He could tell by your letters that the two of you weren't exactly on bad terms anymore. That's when Ginny told him about the weird conversation the two of you had after the first article came out. She was pretty sure then that you were hiding something, and then when that kissing photo came out it all made sense. You were worried about what Ron would think because it was true, not because it was fake."

"To be fair, that photo of us kissing isn't exactly real. They made us all animated."

"But the bottom half is real, isn't it? Only your eyes and noses look like a cartoon, the rest looks like you, and your … jaw area seemed pretty into it," he said, motioning to his mouth.

"Ron and I are on a break, Charlie. I haven't done anything wrong. The only reason any of you care is because he's a Malfoy. If it were any other guy -"

"We would still care. No matter who it is Ron is going to be hurt. He hasn't followed through with your break, Hermione."

She sighed. "Oh."

"But you are right. Who he is has a lot to do with my family's reaction. Maybe he has changed, I don't know, but that doesn't erase all he's done in the past. His father repeatedly tried to get mine fired, he openly mocks our family, he made Ron, Harry and you miserable throughout school -"

"I don't remember ever being miserable during -"

"He tried to get Hagrid sacked, and get that hippogriff killed, he broke Harry's nose and left him -"

"I get it, Charlie!" she snapped. The wizard immediately shut his mouth. "I admit he's done some bad things over the years, but so what? He's been doing a lot of good to make up for it."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Well, for starters, he makes countless donations to various organizations and charities, mainly ones that benefit people affected by the war. And he works at the Ministry voluntarily. Ask Kingsley about him. He knows."

"Sounds more like he's working on improving the Malfoy name. It's all a game for them, Hermione."

"He has also been helping out Mr. Ollivander for the last few years. And remember that anonymous donation Weasley's Wizard Wheezes received last year? That was him! How does that benefit the Malfoy name?"

"Are you sure about that, Hermione?"

"Of course I am!"

"But did he volunteer that information, or did you ask him and he tell you it was him?"

Hermione thought about this. She had asked him point blank. Darn it! "I might have been the one to bring it up … but that doesn't mean anything. It was him, I know it was!"

"Maybe it was, I really don't know him well enough to say." Charlie stopped and stared blankly in front of him. He put his elbows on his knees and propped up his chin with twin fists. Letting out a deep sigh, Charlie reluctantly asked, "Do you love him?"

Hermione looked at him coldly. "Is that what Ginny wanted you to ask me?"

"Yes," he answered honestly. "She thinks you do by the way you were kissing him."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's very observant, considering it was only half a picture."

"So … do you then?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to sigh. "Oh, I don't know, Charlie. But, if I do, I'm not going to say it to you before I even say it to him."

"That sounds like a yes."

"It's not. You can go ahead and tell Ginny that I do love him, in a way, but I'm still not sure what kind of love that is yet. I need time."

"Three weeks' time?" he said, making an attempt to laugh.

Hermione smirked at him. "Exactly. Tell everyone to calm down. This is my summer away, remember?"

"I know. I think we're all still just a little surprised you went through with it. No one thought you would."

And that's when Hermione realized. "Neither did I."

The reality was that she had expected to kiss someone else, even anticipated it, but she never anticipated sleeping with someone else, let alone falling for them. Especially since Draco Malfoy was the person in question.

But the Weasley's didn't know it had gone that far. Maybe they assumed she had, she wasn't going to ask, but whether they believed it or not she was still going to have to tell Ron what happened. She needed to be honest and tell him she slept with Draco … only three weeks into the summer … after snogging another wizard. Wow. She really did sound like a scarlet woman. Mrs. Weasley would be so ashamed of her.

"I suppose that should satisfy them enough for now. Well, all but Ginny, anyway. You know I hate prying in your life like this."

Hermione smiled. "I know, but you're a Weasley, and Weasley's are fiercely loyal. That's part of what I like about all of you." After a short pause, she asked, "Your mother hasn't seen the article, has she?" Charlie avoided her eyes. Hermione sighed. "Great."

"Well, I better go shower before breakfast. See you there?"

"Of course. Are you taking us around again today?" He nodded. "You know it's alright if you don't want to do it, Charlie? I understand it's not exactly the most comfortable of situations for you."

"No, it's fine. No one knows this place like I do. If you want to finish this job efficiently, which I know you do, I'm really your best option."

Hermione chuckled. He knew her so well.

Charlie started to walk away. Before he got too far, Hermione called him back. When he turned around, she said, "Anna likes you."

Charlie froze. "Uhh … what? No, Hermione, we're just friends."

Hermione laughed at his naivety. "Sure. You are, but she admitted to liking you the first night I met her. The only thing is that Daniel likes her, but she won't even give him the time of day as long as she thinks there's still a chance with you. So if you like her do something about it, and if not … well, let her down gently. I get the feeling that's what you'll be doing, despite the cute, little red-headed babies the two of you would make."

Charlie laughed awkwardly and ran a hand through his hair. "Uhh, yeah … I don't really see her like that. Thanks for telling me."

Hermione smiled. "No problem." At least now there could be one less dramatic situation floating around.

Once Charlie was gone Hermione stayed outside for a few more minutes before going back to the common room to wake up Draco. When she got there he was already sitting up and reading the same book she had grabbed their first night here.

When the door opened he looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back and said, "Morning sunshine."

"Where did you disappear to?" he asked, putting the book down.

Hermione walked over and let him pull her over the back of the couch and onto his lap. "Just outside for some air," she answered, leaning in and kissing him.

Hermione and Draco stayed like that for a good five minutes before the first people started walking through the common room to get to the dining hall. They decided that this was probably their cue to go and break up Sophie and Phillip's love fest.

Instead of just going into their room, they banged on the door repeatedly until Phillip finally answered. It was a good thing they knocked because it looked like he hadn't had his boxers on for very long. Both he and Sophie were very much awake.

"Good morning!" Sophie said brightly. "Where deed you two sleep last night?"

Hermione and Draco exchanged a look. "Where do you think?" he said, brushing past Phillip and going to his backpack to pull out some clean clothes. Hermione did the same.

"Touchy, touchy," said Phillip, jumping back on the bed and wrapping his arms around Sophie. "If you'd like, Sophie and I can clear out of here tonight, and you two can have some much needed privacy. Right, love?"

Sophie grinned. "Absolutely. We do not need a bedroom to 'ave a good time." She caught eyes with Hermione and winked. Both witches giggled.

"We were already expecting you to," smiled Draco. Both he and Hermione were already greatly anticipating their alone time. After the last couple of days they definitely needed it.

Getting up from the bed, Sophie casually asked Hermione, "So deed you talk to Charlie about what we 'eard yesterday?"

"What did you hear?" asked Draco, immediately whirling his head in her direction.

Hermione shot Sophie a look. The French beauty walked to the other side of the room with her head held low.

"It's nothing," answered Hermione. "We just overheard him talking to his family through the Floo about … well, about us."

"Was Ron there?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. Actually, he's gone missing."

"Oh. Are you worried?" asked Draco thoughtfully.

She shook her head again. "It's not like with Chastity where they thought she might be hurt. Ron's fully capable of taking care of himself. He's probably just off somewhere letting off some steam." And hopefully not shagging some strange witch. It drove her crazy that she was still so jealous, even though that's exactly what she had done. She could definitely understand his frustration.

"And is that where you were at this morning? Talking to Charlie?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "I already told you, I went outside. I did run into him out there but we only had a short conversation. Just so he'd have something to tell his family so they will get off our backs."

She could tell Draco really wanted to ask just what was said, but he didn't. At least he was trying to trust her. That was something.

"Look, Draco, I don't mean to sound secretive. It really just wasn't that important."

"Did I say you were being secretive?" he snapped.

"You didn't have to. I can tell what you're thinking."

"So you're a mind reader now? A master of Legilimency? Well, I'm pretty good at Occlumency and I'm afraid I'm going to have to kick you out."

"Don't you get snippy with me!"

"Oh Merlin, please don't tell me you two are going to fight again?" Phillip said, rolling his eyes. As soon as Sophie was finished putting on her jumper he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room. "You guys spend way too much time being mad at each other. It must be exhausting."

As soon as they were gone, Hermione looked to Draco and said, "He's right. Why are we fighting now?"

"Because you've been acting weird ever since the morning we woke up to come here."

Oh snap! That was the morning after he told her he loved her in his sleep. Hermione hadn't realized she'd been acting any different. Oh Merlin, this must have looked horrible. He must think …

"Is this about Weasley? Are you starting to feel guilty about all of this?"

"No." That was definitely not a lie. She wasn't starting to feel guilty because she'd always felt guilty. "I'm sorry, Draco, I hadn't realized I was acting any differently. I admit, I've been a little less touchy." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay, a lot less touchy, but so what? Charlie already knows about us, sure, but there's no need to rub it in his face. Ron is his brother, after all. I'm just trying to be considerate."

"It's not just that, Hermione. I expected that much. I can't explain it, but something just seems different. Did I do something?"

"No." Not intentionally.

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing, Draco. Really, don't worry about it."

"We said no more lies, Hermione. Now tell me what it is."

Hermione groaned. She really didn't want to say this. It was too embarrassing. For which one of them, she didn't know, but she was pretty sure they would both feel awkward afterwards.

"Okay … fine. Have it your way."

He crossed his arms and waited for her to continue.

Hermione cleared her throat. "The night before we left I was having some trouble sleeping and … sometime in the middle of the night you … said something to me. In your sleep."

"In my sleep?" he repeated. She nodded. "What did I say? I didn't call you a Mudblood, did I? Because if I did you know I didn't mean it." Hermione shook her head. "Then what is it? It couldn't be that bad."

"No … no, I wouldn't say it was bad. Just … unexpected." That was as good a word as any for it.

Draco waited. When she didn't say anything he asked, "Aren't you going to tell me?"

Hermione groaned again. She really hated this. "It's just that … well, you see …"

"Out with it, Hermione."

"You told me you loved me!" she blurted out suddenly.

Draco remained completely still, other than the gradually increasing size of his bulging eyes. His skin became even paler than usual as he stared right through Hermione. That was definitely not what he thought she was going to say.

"Oh," he said in a faded voice. "I … uhh … huh."

"You see? This is why I didn't want to say anything! Now it's awkward!"

"No … no it's not." It really was. "I'm sure I was just talking about … umm … you know, like a friend?" That didn't sound very convincing, even to himself. "I mean … I do lo -" He cleared his throat. This word was really hard to say. "Care about you," he corrected. "As a friend."

"So … you don't …"

"Merlin, no!"

"Oh." Hermione felt like she'd just been hit with five hexes at once.

"That's not bad, is it?" Hermione shook her head unconvincingly. "What I mean is, I'm not going to jump the gun like Sophie and Phillip and throw that word out after such a short period of time. I've never said it to any girl. Not sincerely, anyway."

Hermione chuckled halfheartedly. "Only when trying to get them in the sack?"

Draco smiled. "Exactly."

"You already had me there, Draco. No need to throw words around."

"Well, I guess I must have been dreaming about getting you there all over again."

Hermione attempted to smile before crouching down and going through her stuff again, making sure Draco didn't notice her wipe away a tear. This had gone even worse than she'd expected, and she hadn't been expecting much.

When Hermione stood back up with her clothes in hand, Draco came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Promise me this isn't going to change anything. I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean to freak you out."

Wow. He had really misconstrued this situation. But maybe it was better this way. Hermione turned around, wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him. When she pulled away she smiled and said, "Of course not. I should have told you about it sooner."

"I understand why you didn't."

They kissed again, both of them fearing if they pulled away they might blurt out how they really feel. But neither of them did. It seems secrets were still being kept.

Once they were both dressed they went out to breakfast. Sophie and Phillip asked if they had made up, in which they both replied yes. Still, their friends were not blind to the weird air now floating between them.

Across the table, Hermione noticed Annaleigh was nearly in tears while trying to choke down a bowl of oatmeal. Charlie, who was normally seated next to her, was all the way on the other side of the table. Daniel was next to her, though, soothingly rubbing her back while she tried really hard to put on a brave face.

"Ze rumor ees zat Charlie told 'er 'e does not feel ze same way about 'er as she feels about 'im," Sophie whispered into Hermione's ear. "I wonder 'ow 'e finally feegured eet out." Hermione said nothing, making sure to take an extra-large bite of her toast. Sophie stared at her wide-eyed. "'Ermione, tell me you deed not!"

Gulping down her bite, Hermione said, "He needed to know, Sophie. She was never going to move on properly if she thought there was hope."

"Don't tell me you did it for that git, Daniel?" said Draco, nosing his way into their conversation.

"Daniel likes Anna?" asked Sophie, leaning in even closer. She was beyond curious.

"They shagged the same night you two did," laughed Draco.

"No way!" Sophie hooted. "Zat was a busy night!"

After breakfast, Charlie took them back to the room with all of the books to help them choose some more dragons. He pointed out a few of his favorites and they chose seven of them. They decided to keep one phial of the extraction potion per group, just in case. Mr. Ollivander hadn't told them if they would be going after anymore dragons, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

They visited four of them today. Charlie even wanted to try the extraction spell once. In all of his years of working there he had never seen such a thing performed before. Until now he had never even thought about how wizards and witches removed heartstrings from dragons.

"It's kind of fascinating how they're all a different color like that," he said, pulling a glowing, green heartstring from a Peruvian Vipertooth. "Do you think it has something to do with their breed or their personality?"

"I think their breed often has to do with their personality," laughed Hermione.

After they got all four heartstrings they headed back to the main part of the facility. There was still some time before dinner, so Charlie and a few others invited all of them to play a quick game of Quidditch in the courtyards. Hermione and Phillip respectfully declined, but Draco and Sophie jumped at the opportunity.

They ended up on the same team with Daniel, Annaleigh, Jen, Jay, and another wizard named Randolph. Draco played Seeker while Sophie, Anna and Daniel played Chasers. Jen and Jay were the Beaters, and Randolph was the Keeper.

Hermione and Phillip used their brooms to fly to the roof and watched them with their feet dangling over the edge. Both could not help but notice how Daniel kept trying to show Charlie up, and how Charlie kept letting him. As blatantly obvious as it was, Annaleigh didn't seem to notice - or chose not to - and was quite impressed.

It didn't take them long to figure out how Sophie was such a great Chaser. Sure, she was fast, but she was also a flirt and used her charm to distract the wizards on the other team while Jen or Jay would sneak up and whack a Bludger at them.

"That's my girl!" shouted Phillip proudly.

Needless to say, the game was over pretty quickly. Draco caught the Snitch about forty-five minutes into it and their team won, 280-60.

After the game, both Draco and Sophie flew over and joined Hermione and Phillip on the roof.

"Good game, darling," said Phillip, pulling Sophie onto his lap and proceeding to snog her.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other and rolled their eyes before leaning in and kissing themselves.

"With skills like that it's hard to believe you never once beat Harry to the Snitch," baited Hermione.

Draco raised an eyebrow and said, "Low blow, Mione. Any chance Potter is up for a rematch? My game's only improved with time."

"He probably would be," she said, laughing. "Should I mention it?"

"I don't see why not." He leaned in and kissed her again, this time giving a wink before grabbing her and apparating them to the ground. Kissing while apparating was still a really weird feeling, but she loved it. It was one of their very first memories and she would never be able to apparate again without thinking of him.

Sophie and Phillip joined them a second later, doing the exact same thing.

"Whoa, zat was kind of a rush," Sophie said, swaying from side to side. "I feel deezzy."

The bell chimed for dinner. They all headed into the dining hall, where everyone was still talking about the exciting Quidditch game. Anna was chatting happily with Daniel while Charlie smirked at them from across the table, already significantly closer than he had been that morning.

After dinner was finished, several people decided to play another game. Hermione noticed Charlie decline the offer and disappear towards the room with the fireplaces, undoubtedly to contact his family about their conversation earlier.

Phillip and Sophie didn't want to play either. Instead, they decided to go for a walk through the facility. There was still a lot of unexplored territory, since Sophie's and Hermione's walk had been cut short the night before.

Hermione assumed Draco went to play Quidditch with the others since he disappeared with them. She went into the common room, which was completely abandoned, and pulled out the book both she and Draco had both attempted to read, only to be continually interrupted. It was a work of fiction, which she wasn't normally used to, but she needed to relax her mind a bit. It was sort of like a wizard's version of sleeping beauty, so instead of defeating the dragon with a sword the prince had a wand. Hermione didn't think it seemed nearly as gallant.

When she was only a couple of pages in one of the doors flew open and Draco walked in with a wet head of hair and a bare chest. He smiled when he saw Hermione sitting there. She smiled back, stealing a glance at his glistening abs.

"I thought you went outside to play another game?"

"Nah," said Draco, sinking down on the couch beside her. "I just wanted to wash all the sweat off of me. I hate that grimy feeling after a game. If they didn't have these bloody community showers here I would have asked you to join me."

Draco grabbed Hermione by the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She closed her book and tossed it onto the nearest table in one fluid motion. Once he had her in his arms he stared deeply into her eyes while brushing his fingers against her cheek. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss.

"I just ran into Sophie and Phillip. They said they'll stay away from the room if you want to get our night started," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I should have known that's why you didn't play. There's only one thing men like more than Quidditch, and it definitely is not showers."

"Unless we have a beautiful bath time friend," he said laughing.

Draco used his hand to push Hermione's head against his, kissing her passionately. She ran her hands along his chest while his traveled down to her hips, rubbing the bare skin just above her jeans. She moaned lightly into his mouth as his hands traveled up her shirt.

Some shrill yells sounded in one of the other rooms. Hermione tried to stop and listen but Draco kept kissing her.

"Is that Sophie?" she asked through heated breaths.

"Don't know, don't care," he said, pulling her mouth back against his. "Let them have their drama. Tonight it's just you and me."

He was right. They had already done plenty for Sophie and Phillip this week. It was time for them to have some much needed alone time.

Hermione moved so she was straddling his lap, not even noticing as the yells came closer. Draco had his arms around her waist and was grinding her against him when one of the doors burst open.

Hermione looked up and caught sight of a pair of familiar blue eyes staring knives at her. "Ron!" she shouted, immediately jumping off of Draco and wiping her mouth clean. Though, it didn't do much good. The damage was already done.

Draco stood up with her and whipped around. Ron moved his death stare to him just as Charlie, Sophie and Phillip came barreling into the room.

Before they could stop him, Ron pointed his wand at Draco. A jet of green light shot out of it and hit Draco in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

"Draco!" squealed Hermione, kneeling down beside him, just as he began upchucking a giant slug. What were they, in their second year again?

Hermione looked up just in time to see Ron's back leaving the room. She looked back at the heaving Draco, torn for a split second before jumping up and running after Ron.

"Ron, wait!" she shouted, making sure to avoid everyone's judgmental eyes as she passed them. "Ron!" she shouted again after spotting him marching through the corridor and towards the room with the fireplaces. He didn't turn around. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, you stop right now and talk to me!"

"I don't want to talk to you, Hermione!" he yelled back at her, attempting to slam the door in her face.

She caught it and followed him through, making sure to shut it and cast sealing charms all around. The last thing they needed right now was to be interrupted.

Ron made a break for one of the fireplaces, but Hermione jumped in front of him. "Oh, no you don't! What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? I came to visit my brother after I found out my girlfriend was snogging, and who knows what else with Draco fucking Malfoy!" he shouted furiously, making a break for another fireplace. "I recognized those bloody friends of yours from that photo in the Prophet and knew you were here too." Hermione jumped in front of him again so he darted for another one. "Charlie tried to lie to me and tell me you weren't here. My own brother lied to me. For you. Your busy shagging bloody Malfoy and my family still feels some need to protect you. What about me, huh?" he asked, finally turning and looking at her.

"I never asked them to lie to you," she said honestly. "They were just trying to protect you."

"Protect me?" His eyes nearly bulged out of skull. "Did you ever stop to think that if you were doing something I needed protection from then it was probably something you shouldn't be doing?"

"Yes," she said in a hushed voice.

"Just tell me one thing, Hermione! Why him? Why Malfoy?" Ron pleaded. "He made our lives miserable for years! I'm not stupid, I know you could have anyone you wanted but, for some reason, you chose him! Why?"

"You don't understand, Ron! He's different now! He's a better person than he was before! He's my friend!"

"Is that what you do with all your friends? Do you and Ginny do that in secret?" Ron paused for a second, his face distorting. "Oh Merlin, horrible mental image! But not as horrible as what I just saw!"

"We're on a break, Ron! I haven't done anything wrong! You can't be acting like this!"

"I can act however the bloody hell I want! That's Malfoy, Hermione! Malfoy! Anyone else I can forgive! But this? How am I supposed to just forget about this?" Ron's eyes glossed over. Hermione instinctually reached out for him but he pulled away from her. "Don't!" he snapped.

"Ron … please …" she pleaded, her own eyes beginning to sting as her throat became raw. "I'm sorry …"

She reached out for him again. This time he let her wrap her arms around his waist. His arms clenched at his sides for a moment before reluctantly coming up and hugging her back.

He held her close, breathing her in for a moment before whispering into her ear, "Please just tell me you don't love him."

"I -" Hermione froze mid-line. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't bring herself to say the words.

Ron pulled away and stared down at her, horrified. His head shook slowly, as if he didn't believe what he had just heard - or not heard.

"Ron, no," she said, trying to grab him again. "It's not -"

"Say it. Say you don't love him."

Hermione tried again, but the words never came. Tears poured out of Ron's eyes as he headed to the nearest fireplace.

"Ron, wait!"

Ron threw all that remained of his Floo powder into the flames, walked in and shouted, "Diagon Alley!"

And he was gone.

Hermione sunk down in front of the fireplace and cradled her head in her knees, crying hysterically as she realized what she had just done. She had just lost Ron.

It took Sophie nearly an hour to break through Hermione's charms on the doors. When she finally got in Hermione was lying in the fetal position on the floor.

"'Ermione, what 'appened?" she said, running over to her friend and cradling her head in her lap.

"He's gone," Hermione cried. "He hates me, Sophie. What if he never talks to me again? He's my best friend and I've lost him. How could I let this happen?"

"You 'ave not lost 'im, 'Ermione. I am sure 'e weell get over eet. 'E just needs time. Now, get up. We need to get you to bed."

Sophie was surprisingly strong as she lifted Hermione off the floor and guided her through the back way to their room, purposely avoiding the common room. When they got there it was empty. Sophie laid Hermione down on her bed and sat down next to her, stroking her hair consolingly.

"Eet weell be alright, mon amie."

Only a couple of minutes later the door burst open and Draco came barging in. Sophie stood up from the bed and tried to push him out.

"Now ees not ze time, Draco."

"Well, that's too bloody bad because I need to talk to Hermione now! Get out, Sophie!"

"Do not talk to me een zat way! 'Ow dare you come barging een 'ere! Can you not see zat 'Ermione ees upset?"

"It's fine, Sophie," said Hermione, sitting up on the bed and wiping her eyes. "Draco and I really do need to talk. I'll be fine."

Sophie looked at her skeptically. "Well, alright. You behave!" she said, poking Draco in the chest before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

As soon as she was gone, Draco's yelling commenced. "What the hell was that?"

"What the hell was what, Draco? You need to be more specific."

"You …" he started, his eyes already flaring. "You just left me there! To go after him! You didn't even come and check to see if I was okay!"

"It was a slug charm, Draco, not an unforgiveable curse. I knew it would pass in about ten minutes. No harm done."

"No harm?" he repeated. "No harm? You just chose Weasley over me! How is that no harm?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would I choose you?" she said coldly.

Draco was taken aback. He lost his breath, but still managed to choke out, "W-what? I thought -"

"You thought what, Draco? That I would choose you?" she huffed. "Why would I do that? You made it very clear this morning how you feel about me. You love me - wait, no! Not love - care about me as a friend, right? So tell me something? Why would I choose someone who loves me as a friend over someone who loves me unconditionally? Huh?" Hermione stood up on the bed, glowering down at a dismayed Draco. "Have you gone deaf or something? Tell me why I would ever do that?"

"I -" He fumbled with his words, unsure of what he was supposed to say. "- thought we were on the same page."

"Same page? Same page?"

Draco backed away, knowing immediately that he had said the wrong thing.

"Let me tell you something, Draco! Ron just left here in tears because he wanted me to tell him I didn't love you, and I couldn't say it! I couldn't say it because I do! I don't know why, I don't know how, but for some unknown reason I love you! And for one tiny moment the other night, I thought you felt the same way! But you … you took that away from me!"

Hermione was sobbing hysterically, with tears streaming all the way down her face and neck. But she didn't care. Draco needed to hear this. He needed to know the truth.

"Because of you I've lost everything! EVERYTHING!"

Draco didn't move. He just kept staring at her with the same wide eyes. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. She jumped off the bed and yanked his arm.

"I want you out of here!" she shouted, opening the door and tossing him through it.

"Hermione, wait!" he finally said, trying to fight back.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" They locked eyes for one final moment before she slammed the door in his face.

"HERMIONE!" he shouted, banging on the door, unable to open it since she had already placed several charms on it to keep him out. "Hermione, please! I don't …" Draco leaned his back against the door and slid down to the ground. "I don't know how to love you …"

Draco knew she couldn't hear him through her charms, but he didn't care. He needed to say it out loud, since even he didn't understand it. For years he had thought he was incapable of love, but there was definitely something here. He wanted to be with her more than anything. So why couldn't he just say it? Why couldn't he love her like she wanted him to? What had happened to make him this way?

Giving up on getting in, Draco laid his head down on the ground and, for the first time, just let himself cry without holding back. How he longed for the comfort of Hermione's arms right now.